


A brighter future

by Ephy



Series: Street rat [2]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Mentions of Underage Prostitution, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2014-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-15 00:36:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1284688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ephy/pseuds/Ephy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For once, it is Christmas in Gotham city.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A brighter future

**Author's Note:**

> Same universe than "Of first and last times (or at least firsts)"

**A brighter future**

 

For once, it was Christmas in Gotham city. The fact that the calendar had flipped to February a week ago didn’t matter; the snow hadn’t melted away just yet so it still counted. Not that Jim cared. He felt happy. The Todd kid had just been adopted by Bruce Wayne, which meant two lost boys had just found themselves a family.

###

The first time Jim had met Jason, the kid had been arrested for thievery. He’d been 11 and had been living in the streets for little less than a year. Jim had seen him ask to the fellow officer who had arrested him if he could use the bathroom.

Jim had had to suppress a smile when the rookie who’d agree to let him go found out that the kid was still small enough to slip out of the bathroom window.

###

The second time, Jason had been 12, pretending to be 14, and a little hardass who’d managed to provoke one of the cops into punching him. A bruise had been flowering on his cheek. Yeah. Back then, that was still the good old GCPD ways.

The arresting officer had put him in an interrogation room and left for 5 minutes to get himself a coffee. After all, the only way out had been a room full of cops and the door had been locked. He wasn’t a rookie: it had been on the 10th floor.

When he’d come back, the room had still been empty. They all scattered down the building, afraid to find the kid’s corpse on the ground.

They’d only understood later. Jason hadn’t jumped. He had _climbed_ to the roof, waited for the building to be clear then had left quietly by the stairs.

###

The third and last time, Jim didn’t like to remember, because ‘Jay’ had then been 13 and had been arrested for prostitution. They hadn’t known what to do with him: he wouldn’t talk, except to propose to cops and make smartass comments on their sexual lives.

Jim had just hoped none of them had actually accepted.

When the room had been found empty, _again_ , they’d searched the building both up and down. Jim had let them, staying at his desk and just waiting for the kid to get out. Jay had: he’d still been in the interrogation room, carefully hidden.

Jay had frozen when he’d spotted him: he’d expected everybody to be gone. Then he’d raised his chin and walked to him with languid movements, smiling, and asked: “Mind if I get one of those cigarettes?”

“Suit yourself.”

The kid had smirked, taken one and lit it. He’d obviously had smoked before because he hadn’t even coughed once.

“They’ll continue to run around for a few minutes,” Jim had said, “but they’ll come back eventually.”

“Right, I should go.”

Jay had started to walk away when Jim had added, casually: “There’s a quiet dinner at the crossroad between Fisher and Rost. I know for a fact that they do the best roast beef in the city, for an affordable price.”

The kid had given no sign to have heard him. He’d just resumed walking and gotten the hell out of the GCPD building.

But next time Jim had gone to Billies’, he’d paid for two plates while eating only one.

###

Now, all this is done though, and Jim was glad. The kid had now a home, a place where he’d be safe.

Finally, Jim could stop worrying about finding Jason’s broken body in an alley.


End file.
